Pinochle Deck / Jeu de Bésique

Rules
Pinochle is a melding and trick taking game played with two teams of 2. The objective of the game is to be the first team to score 150 or more points. Pinochle is played with 48 cards (two sets of 9s through Aces). In Pinochle, cards are ranked as Aces (high), 10s, Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 9s.

Set Up

The dealer shuffles the deck and the player to their right cuts it.
The dealer then passes out 12 cards in sets of 3 clockwise to each of the 4 players.

How to Play

Points are earned in two phases: The Melding Phase and the Trick Taking Phase.

Melding Phase

In the melding phase, players examine their hand to see if the have any of the following combinations:

Trump Run- Having a 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of the trump suit is 15 points

Royal Marriage- Having a King and Queen of the trump suit is 4 points

Common Marriage- Having a King and Queen of the non-trump suit is 2 points

Nix- Having a 9 of the trump suit is 1 point

4 Aces- Having 4 Aces is 10 points

4 Kings- Having 4 Kings is 8 points

4 Queens- Having 4 Queens is 6 points

4 Jacks- Having 4 Jacks is 4 points

Pinochle- Having the Queen of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds is 4 points

Double Trump Run- Having two trump runs is 150 points

8 Aces- Having 8 Aces is 100 points

8 Kings- Having 8 Kings is 80 points

8 Queens- Having 8 Queens is 60 points

8 Jacks- Having 8 Jacks is 40 points

Double Pinochle- Having two Pinochles is 30 points

Points for each team are recorded on a scoring sheet and the Trick Taking phase begins.

Trick Taking Phase

In this phase, players place cards in the center of the table in hopes to outrank the others and take the trick. The player who made the contract places the first lead card. Going clockwise, players must follow suit of the lead card. If they can’t, then they must play a trump card. If they cannot do that also, they may play any card. Players must also always play a higher card than the previous one played if possible.

The following are the possible ways to earn points in the Trick Taking phase: Each Ace, King, and 10 in tricks won is worth 1 point each. Taking the last trick is also 1 point.

Scoring

Both teams add up their total score from the melding and trick taking phases on a scoring board. If the team that made the contract failed to reach the total points bid, it is called “going set” and the number of points bid is subtracted from the team’s score. The first team to reach 150 points wins the game. If both teams reach 150 points or above in the same round, the team that made the round’s contract wins.

To keep the cards from scratches or getting dirty or sweaty fingers on the images, rub a bit of white candle on the whole sheet before cutting and scrape off excess wax with the flat edge of a ruler. That is quite messy but it protects the cards from moisture and dirt.

Once both sides of each card has been printed, cut them out with scissors or blade, following the thin black line around each of them. The rounded corners are made for easier manipulation of the cards while playing, as for regular store-bought cards.

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